Ahead of this weekend’s Clásico, Barcelona president Joan Laporta has raised the temperature by criticizing Real Madrid’s transfer strategy of signing “very expensive players who aren’t delivering the expected results.” As he explosively claimed: “More than one rooster in the same henhouse can’t work.”
Eternal rivals, the bad blood between Spain’s—and the world’s—two biggest clubs has increased in recent times amid the ongoing ‘Negreira case’ and an open war of words between the two presidents Laporta and Florentino Pérez.
At the start of October, UEFA announced that Real Madrid had submitted “a substantial amount of documents related to the ongoing investigation into Barcelona in the matter involving José María Enríquez Negreira.”
Barcelona are accused of paying over €7 million ($7.9 million) to a company owned by Negreira, the former vice president of Spanish soccer’s refereeing committee, in an effort to get favorable refereeing decisions. An investigation into the matter by the Spanish justice system remains ongoing, while the current La Liga champions have in turn filed a lawsuit against Pérez.
Laporta has previously accused Madrid of “trying to discredit Barça” and wanting “to harm football.”
Laporta Doubles Down on Galácticos Claim
Speaking to L’Equipe ahead of Barcelona’s Champions League glamor tie against Paris Saint-Germain, Laporta fired shots at Madrid once again.
Asked about his relationship with Los Blancos, the Barça president admitted “it doesn’t exist anymore.” When asked directly about the Negreira case, he deflected to his rivals’s transfer policy.
“They want to divert attention to that, but there’s nothing to it,” Laporta is quoted as saying. “Real Madrid has lost credibility, both institutionally and on the pitch. They no longer have any presence within the institutions. I think they've taken the wrong path, and they’re paying the price. They’ve opened their wallets to pay for many very expensive players who aren’t delivering the expected results.”
Laporta previously claimed that Kylian Mbappé’s arrival at Madrid back in 2024 couldn’t work—a remark he has now doubled down on.
“Yes, I said it. More than one rooster in the same henhouse can’t work, ever.”
“The priority in football is the team and team spirit. If you don’t have that, the project doesn’t work. That’s one of Barça’s strengths: having great talents, players from La Masía, players who come from other footballing cultures, and managing to create a team with a synergy that works.
“They preferred individual players, big-name signings. I think Real Madrid has lost credibility and they’re trying by all means to justify all this by lying about the Negreira case, because they haven’t won anything for two years. We are winners, and we are candidates to win everything.”
Madrid’s Mbappé, Vinícius Jr Issue
As much as Laporta’s words are an obvious attempt to take the focus away from the Negreira case, they will strike a nerve with his rivals.
Famously, since Mbappé’s arrival over two years ago, Real Madrid have not won a major trophy, with cohesion in attack between the club’s biggest stars an ongoing issue.
Mbappé—who was Pérez’s white whale before finally joining in 2024—was meant to improve the reigning European and Spanish champions and kickstart a new era of dominance.
However, despite bagging an incredible amount of goals and individual accolades, the Frenchman’s presence has clearly impacted Madrid as a team, and there is endless debate about whether the lineup can support both him and Vinícius Jr due to the similarity of their playing styles and positions.
Following the Madrid derby defeat prior to the international break, L’Equipe shared a damning graphic of each player’s average position on the field during play, with Mbappé and Vinícius virtually on top of one another.
Despite public protests to the contrary from both players, gossip persists that Mbappé and Vinícius do not see eye to eye, while managing egos remains an ongoing concern for whoever is the Real Madrid manager.
Madrid currently sit six points adrift of La Liga leaders Barcelona ahead of their Clásico showdown at Camp Nou on Sunday.
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